HTSS151 - Closing sales takes creativity - Scott Sylvan Bell

Your ability to close sales takes creativity

Closing deals is all about creativity. You do have a base form of a sales process that you use. No two sales presentations play out the same exact way. Some of creativity in the sales process is 80/20 math. Some of the creative processes works in some instances but not in others. 

What is a play or gambit in sales?

When you look at your sales process you have a playbook. Each play you run has consequences that you have to deal with. Another way to explain a play is a "gambit". Whatever term you use you are still running a play. What you need to know is your buyer or buyers have playbooks and plays as well. You do need some flexibility to make your creativity to work. The best salespeople use base routines + creativity for their sucesss. 

What is creativity in the closing process?

Creativity is 2 ideas or more combined with some content left behind. When you take 2 winning ideas or a winning idea and a losing idea to be modified. When you meet with your buyers you are combining ideas and thoughts. Your creativity is needed to work through these thoughts. 

Why you should watch other sales presentations

Working with other salespeople and watching their sales presentations you can pick up new plays. Some of these new word tracks or sayings can work right off the bat for you. Some of these ideas will need to be massaged and modified in order to make them work.

The inverted bell curve of creativity  

Too much creativity will look sloppy to your buyers, it will seem like you are all over the place. Very few salespeople cant pull off flying by the seat of their pants. When you think through the sales process there are items you know from:

• Roleplay – Have friends from different industries to work with and role play with. 
• Reading content – books on sales, negotiation, decision making and… conflict resolution
• Conversations – Your interaction between friends can be used as a way to grab ideas. You can listen in at coffee shops and see how people complain about their life and interactions. 

The unknown in sales can't always be found 

There is a point where you hit the unknown and have to figure it out. As you build out your Sales Playbook you have the ability to combine more ideas. You cant prepare for everything… it's not possible. You would be in training forever and it wouldn’t feel right when you rolled it out. This is why you have to be good at:

• Being patient
• Being calm
• Asking questions
• Listening 
• Reframes 
• Looking for ways to finance the deal (cash, credit, financing, trade and or barter)

Keys to creative sales process :

Creativity can be in the:

• Terms
• Financing
• Deal structure
• People involved
• Asks after the sale

 Look for word tracks, ties downs and even phrases in sales 

Most of the reframes you need will come from conditional statements. You will target a few words: 

• If 
• How 
• When 

As you take these words to be focused on you end up with the early beginnings of word tracks you can use. Here are a few base word tracks to be more creative in your sales process:

• “If we can do this, can we do that”
• "If I can do that, then what"
• “How about this”
• “Why don’t we do this”
• “Give me an idea of what you think about this idea”